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Facile template-free synthesis of hierarchically porous NiO hollow architectures with high-efficiency adsorptive removal of Congo red

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Abstract

Hierarchically porous NiO hollow architectures (HPHAs) were synthesized via a one-pot facile chemical bath deposition method and followed by a calcination process. The crystal structure, component and morphology of the products were characterized by various techniques. The results revealed that hierarchical architectures with hollow interior are composed of mesoporous NiO nanoflakes with thickness of about 8 nm. Interestingly, the as-synthesized NiO HPHAs have the unusual three-ordered porous features including a microscale hollow interior and two mesoscale pores which are attributed to the holes on the surface of nanoflakes with an average diameter of about 3.9 nm and the cavities on the wall of microsphere in the range of 20–40 nm in diameter formed by interconnecting nanoflakes. These comprehensive hierarchically porous structures are beneficial for the adsorption performance towards Congo red in water. The absorptive capacity over NiO HPHAs achieved about 1.8 and 4.0 times as high as that of the precursor β-Ni(OH)2 hollow microspheres (HSs) and the commercial activity carbon (AC) under the same conditions. The studies of adsorption kinetics illustrated that the adsorption behavior perfectly obeyed the pseudo-second-order model and the adsorption isotherm fits the Langmuir adsorption assumption well. The maximum adsorption capacities were calculated to be 490.2 mg g−1 according to the Langmuir equation, which is excellent result compared to NiO absorbents. The high-efficiency adsorption capacities for NiO HPHAs are attributed to the large specific surface area, the synergistic effect of micro-mesoporous structure and the electrostatic interaction of NiO with CR molecules. Additionally, NiO HPHAs can be easily renewed and has good chemical stability, indicating a great promising absorbent in the application for the removal of diazo organics in wastewater.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Anhui Province Educational Committee (Grant No. KJ2018A0511), the Key Projects of Support Program for Outstanding Young Talents of Anhui Province (Grant No. gxyqZD2016151), the Natural Science Foundation of Anhui Province (Grant No. 1808085MB40), the Key Projects of Research and Development Program of Anhui Provence (Grant No. 201904b11020040), and the Program of Study Abroad for Excellent Young Scholar of Anhui Province (Grant No. gxfxZD2016221).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Functional Molecule Design and Interface Process, Anhui Jianzhu University, Hefei, 230601, China

    Hanmei Hu, Mei Sun, Kehua Zhang & Man Wang

  2. Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, Hefei University, Hefei, 230601, China

    Chonghai Deng & Jiayi Xu

  3. School of Mechanical Engineering and Built Environment, University of Derby, Derby, DE22 3AW, UK

    Huirong Le

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  1. Hanmei Hu
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  2. Chonghai Deng
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Hu, H., Deng, C., Sun, M. et al. Facile template-free synthesis of hierarchically porous NiO hollow architectures with high-efficiency adsorptive removal of Congo red. J Porous Mater 26, 1743–1753 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10934-019-00758-2

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